Artquilts, Artists, Quiltshows and much more

Post navigation

Quiltfest of the Austrian Patchworkguild

A few days ago I visited the annual Quiltfest of the Austrian Patchworkgilde. It took place in Eisenstadt, in the very East of Austria. There were beautiful quilts to be found in the aisles, a very long table showcasing patchwork bags in every shape and color and some courses.

Among the different categories of quilts was a rather large kid’s section. There is a lot of upcoming talent in Austria. As every young quilter was a winner the guild invested a lot of time, work and money and every participant in this category won a personalized patchwork cat or rabbit. A very nice idea!

My favourite quilt was “Nachtwache” (“Nightwatch”) by Veronika Heiligenbrunner. Veronika used hand-dyed cotton and made the background in Anna Faustino’s weaving technqiue. Then she painted the wolf and couched the plant stalks with wool. The quilt is machine quilted.

Roswitha Schmit’s quilt is called “Jetzt” (“Now”) and sewn and quilted by machine. She says: I designed this mandala myself. Besides of black and white fabrics it has the whole spectrum of colors because between black and white there are the colors. And between the past and the future there is the “Now” where life and where the colorfulness is happening.

“April 1962 – Flowerpower” by Elisabeth Skala brings back memories of the sixties with colorful clothes, flowers, music and fun.

“Hortensie” (“Hydrangea”) by Irene Prendinger is a beautiful, calm quilt with a three-dimensional hydrangea flower.

“La mer, Jeux des vagues” (“the sea, play of the waves”) is a beautiful contemporary quilt by Anneliese Jaros. Anneliese printed her own pictures of the sea on fabric and combined those with music notes of Debussy’s “La Mer”.

Helen Heaney’s quilt “Colour Shape Texture” is a very good example of how simple squares can be turned into a beautiful quilt. I really liked this simple but stunning quilt and its colors.

“Blaue Blüte” (“Blue Flower”) by Evelyn Doblers showed her mastery of the craft. She used silk and felt for the flower in Mola-technique and embellished the quilt with different embroidery stitches.

Another one of my favorites was “Birkenhain” (“Birch Grove”) by Hermine Berger. I already know some of her beautiful quilts but I think this is her masterpiece. Hermine used batics, self-dyed cotton and organza. She hand painted with crayons and sewed and quilted by machine. On the left side some pieces of birch twigs are sewn on the quilt and on the right side there is a piece of birch bark.

“Bolero von Maurice Ravel” (“Bolero by Maurice Ravel”) was the title of this extraordinary quilt made by Ursula Bierbaumer Bohle. The quilt was made with hand-dyed and hand-painted cotton, monoprinted and appliquéd. The artist’s statement: Ravel’s Bolero is one of the most often played pieces of music. It begins slowly like a calm river but gets more rousing, wilder and louder until the music abruptly stops after an overwhelming Crescendo.

I can see this quilt developped into a series depicting a lot of other dances like the Viennese Waltz, the Boogie Woogie, and many more. I would love to see them.

“Meine bunte Welt” (“My colorful World”) by Gerlind Schörgendorfer was a bright and cheerful modern quilt.

“Crazy Cities” by Claudia Weinwurm looks very nice when viewed from a distance but really lets your jaw drop when viewed in detail (click on the small pictures to enlarge them).

The quilt consists of 12 blocks, each one dedicated to one city. And each block is embellished with embroidery, buttons, beads, lace and much more. The quilt simply takes your breath away.

And then there were those quilts that remind you that traditional quilts reach directly for your heart. Like this “Abendstern” (“Evening Star”) by Sibylle Schauer. Pieced in perfection, great choice of colors – just perfect.

And finally a “tounge-in-cheek” quilt – “Aus dem Rahmen fallen” (“falling out of the frame” which means to be unusual, to get out of line).

Thank you to the Austrian Patchworkgilde for organizing this show. I am looking forward to next year’s event.

Share this:

Post navigation

About me

Hi, I'm Gabi and I live in Vienna, Austria in the middle of Europe.
Quiltartnews is all about my adventures in patchwork and quilting as well as glimpses into my life and the occasional travel photos.
Your blog comments are most welcome.
Thank you for being here. Check back often or even better - subscribe (see below).
Contact: gabi@quiltartnews.com